The Name Of The Pleasure Boats

A Memory of Shoeburyness.

There were two pleasure boats operating from the west beach, 'The Prince of Wales' and another, whose name eludes me at the moment.  I think it may have been 'The Queen Mary', but will have to confirm this later.  Up until recently, when they were deemed to be a risk, the manual winches were rusting on the top of the beach near the Uncle Tom's Cabin entrance from between the beach huts.  I moved to the area, in 1953 at age 3, and have recall of many pleasant days spent on the mud, often walking as far as the Mulberry harbour, the beach, and in the caravan site, including many visits to the shop.  At the time, my part of Shoebury then called Thorpe Dene, was mostly unmade roads and lanes, then the closest developement to the sea, barring Percy Garons 'Sea View Homes' for the orphans of Southend.  I have seen the developement of Shoeburyness for the worse, and miss the places where I played as a child, now mostly Housing Association, and Council properties.  Brick production being the mainstay of Shoebury's and Wakerings' early history, and of course the Garrison.  There were Victorian rubbish dumps, that I have dug in the past, and a grey and old coastguards' complex long since gone, near the site of the current Yacht Club.